Before I Fall to Pieces
by Rach1989
Summary: Blaine has been at McKinley for a few months now; the transfer hasn't gone as smoothly as he has lead people to believe. He just wants someone to understand him he just wants a friend. That's where Sam comes in.
1. Chapter 1

**This is based on the spoilers for episode 8 that were released yesterday. I've changed things slightly though, because this is what I'd like to see happen :) I've never wrote this pairing, but I'm a big supporter of Blam friendship, so this is my first attempt.**

**Let me know what you think x**

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><p>Blaine could feel the frustration pulsing through his veins, yet he still continued to take out his aggression on the punch bag at the back of the gym. He knew that everyone had left a long time ago, he'd told Kurt that he was heading straight home. But the truth was, he didn't want to face Finn again, not while he was feeling this frustrated, he was scared that he'd say something that he'd probably regret and cause more drama in his life. He knew that Kurt probably wouldn't understand how Blaine had been feeling since the transfer to McKinley, how it had really effected him, how isolated he felt, how he missed Dalton every day, how he had to work ten times harder in glee just to gain some acceptance, and even then it didn't seem like it was enough. Sure, he'd probably feel guilty about Blaine's transfer, but maybe that wasn't enough, not anymore. Long story short, Blaine was miserable at McKinley, he had been for a while now, only no one seemed to notice. He couldn't help thinking back to how he had felt before he had transferred to Dalton halfway through his freshman year, sure it hadn't gotten that bad – yet. But Blaine could tell that it was only matter of time, he'd been kidding himself when he thought that everyone would accept him, they were Kurt's friends first and foremost. They kind of just put up with him for Kurt's sake. Rachel had made an effort with him, but their semi-friendship had been tainted by the on going feud between Kurt and Rachel over the Class president race, so Rachel had kept her distance, only speaking to Blaine during their rehearsals for West Side Story, then disappearing soon after. Even though Blaine longed for a friend of his own, he knew that he couldn't really rely on Rachel, not really because it would only jeopardise his only relationship he had at McKinley. Rachel was a sensitive subject where Kurt was concerned anyway, not only with the Class Elections hanging over their heads. Although they had been happily dating for the last eight months, Kurt still felt threatened by Rachel, as she was Blaine's only exception. The one girl that Blaine had questioned his sexually for, Blaine knew that it had terrified Kurt. So Blaine never really pushed for a friendship between himself and Rachel. It also didn't help that Rachel was dating Finn, someone who had seemed to have taken an instant disliking to him since the transfer. He let out a strangled cry as he continued to release the frustration from his body, this wasn't him, he usually tried so hard not to let things get him down, but he was tired of putting on the braze face, tired of smiling through the pain, tired of not showing how he really felt. He hadn't meant to start a fight with Sam, he just let his mask slip for a minute and struggled to regain his composure, he just wanted them to listen to him for once, he had a voice and he wanted to be heard, not just on the stage. He didn't care about being the star, not really. He'd phrased something the wrong way, and Sam had reacted, of course no one had jumped in to defend him, Blaine hadn't expected any different. He knew that Sam could probably crush him if he wanted to, but Blaine didn't care anymore. So when Mr Schuster had finally managed to separate the two of them, Blaine had retreated to gym and that's where he had stayed for the remainder of the day.<p>

"I didn't think anyone else was still here," Blaine swung around quickly, jumping out of the way of the punch bag that was swinging back to hit him; he glared at Sam as he slowly walked through the locker room. Blaine grunted his response, and turned his back on Sam again, throwing an angry punch towards the now moving bag. He missed completely and hit the wall instead. He bit down on his lip to prevent him from crying out in pain; he clenched his teeth as his hand started to throb.

"There's some ice packs in that cupboard over there," Sam mumbled gesturing to the first aid cabinet just behind where Blaine was stood. Blaine nodded and quietly went to find one, hissing slightly as the pack made contact with his skin.

"I thought you'd gone home with the others," Blaine mumbled, sitting down at the opposite end of the bench from where Sam was standing.

"Coach had me run some extra drills, she says my spot's still open on the team, but I've got to work for it." Blaine nodded and hissed again as his hand continued to throb.

"You're not holding that right," Sam sighed, walking over to Blaine. He crouched down in front of him, elevating Blaine's hand slightly and holding the ice pack firmly against Blaine's hand.

"That should help," Sam stated, before standing up right and walking back over to his locker.

"Thanks," Blaine mumbled quietly, Sam shrugged as he pulled out a new t-shirt and swapped them over.

"I'm sorry for what I said," Sam paused and turned to face Blaine, "I was angry and I guess I just took it out on you," Sam stared at Blaine, really stared at him, and for the first time he saw something different than the overly enthusiastic former Warbler. Blaine looked – well for the lack of a better word – broken.

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><p>Sam wasn't a bad guy; he always tried to do best by people. But he'd been through so much, always being told that he wasn't good enough, being moved around to where his parents could find work, never really fitting in anywhere. Then he'd finally found somewhere he could call his home in Lima, at McKinley, he had friends there, friends that had accepted him when he was at his lowest. That's why he had reacted so badly when Blaine had stated that by using their male sex appeal to win they were simply selling themselves. Sam wasn't proud of what he had been doing before Finn and Rachel had found him and urged him to go back to McKinley with them. But he had done what he'd done as a way of supporting his family, helping them with money when they needed it the most. He didn't need someone from an obviously privileged background coming in and judging him for something that he already felt bad enough about.<p>

"I guess I'm not totally innocent either," Sam shrugged, closing his locker, "Maybe we both overreacted?" he cautiously approached Blaine and held out his hand; Blaine lifted his eyes and shook it gingerly. Sam smiled and released Blaine's hand, picked up his gym bag and headed towards the door.

"See you around, dude," Sam opened the door slightly, but paused when he heard a quiet sob from behind him, he wasn't entirely sure what it was at first, so he waited, but sure enough he heard it again. He slowly closed the door and turned to face Blaine again.

"Dude, are you crying?" Blaine used his free hand to wipe his eyes, but Sam had already spotted his tears.

"Yeah, the gay guy cries, let's all have a laugh," Blaine snapped,

"I wasn't going to say that," Sam sighed, sitting gingerly next to Blaine on the bench, "What's really going on dude?" Blaine paused and found himself unable to meet Sam's eye, ashamed to admit his weakness, admit how low he was feeling.

"How do you do it," he asked quietly, "How do you come back and get them to just accept you like nothing's changed?"

"So this is all because I've come back," Sam frowned, watching Blaine as he remained still,

"No, it's not you," Blaine sighed, "It's just this place."

"You miss Dalton, don't you?" Blaine slowly turned to face Sam, not even Kurt had asked him that, yet here was Sam, someone he barely knew and he seemed to have picked up on it. He nodded slowly and lifted his eyes to meet Sam's, his eyelashes were wet because of his tears and Sam felt nothing but sympathy for him.

"What does Kurt say?" Sam asked quietly.

"He doesn't know," Blaine shrugged, "He's been really busy with class elections,"

"Dude, he'd want to know," Sam stated, Blaine let out a bitter laugh and shook his head.

"No he wouldn't," he shrugged, before letting out another bitter laugh, "You know I've been here since the beginning of the semester, and this is probably the first conversation I've had without being told to shut up, or sit down."

"Finn right?" Blaine stared at Sam, with a confused expression on his face, but his confusion only caused Sam to laugh quietly, "I went through the same thing last year," he explained, "Finn felt like I was some sort of threat, I don't know why, maybe it's something to do with Mr Schuster giving the leads at Sectional's to Quinn and I?"

"I thought your performance was quite good last year." Blaine smiled slightly, "You and Quinn sounded good together."

"Yeah, maybe," Sam shrugged, "Finn doesn't deal with competition well."

"Sounds like Kurt," he let out another laugh, knowing that talking about his boyfriend like this probably wasn't ideal, especially as he didn't really know Sam that well, but it felt so good to be able to talk to someone, anyone, about how he was really feeling, "You know, I don't even care about being the lead, I sing because it's fun. All I really want is to fit in, you know?" Sam nodded, he knew what it was how it felt to seek acceptance in a ready formed group, but New Directions had pretty much accepted him with open arms last year. Maybe it had something to do with his relationship with Quinn at the time? He still didn't know, but they were his friends, they had stuck together when everyone else had turned their backs on them. Then there was Blaine, the new guy, a position he had been in himself twelve months ago and Blaine still seemed to be sitting on the outside looking in.

"You know I went to Dalton a few weeks ago, it just felt so good to be back there, back with all my friends. They've already found my replacement for lead vocalist, but it didn't even bother me that much, it was just good to be back there, back with people who didn't judge me,"

"Dude, if McKinley is getting you down so much, why are you still here?" Sam asked, Blaine flexed his hand again and let out a quiet hiss, the pain was subsiding considerably now, he shrugged slightly and glanced at Sam again.

"Because I love Kurt," he shrugged, "So even though I miss Dalton everyday, McKinley is where I know I should be," Sam nodded again, he was beginning to think that perhaps they were more alike than they had initially realised. He noticed how the tension had deflated from Blaine's body, instead of sitting upright; he was slumped at the end of the bench, his eyes flickering between Sam's and the floor.

"Santana left because of me, you know?" Blaine mumbled, "I was only trying to cheer everyone up, they were all so depressed over Mercedes leaving, but I guess I was the one who pushed her out."

"Dude, Santana would have left anyway, she's selfish," Sam shrugged, Blaine's eyes locked with his searching for an explanation, "We dated briefly last year, she's only interested on what she can get out of a situation. It wasn't your fault."

Blaine nodded gratefully, but Sam could tell that he didn't really believe him. He was completely broken, a shadow of his former self.

"You're a good guy Sam," Blaine sighed, "I really am sorry for what I said, I just wanted someone to listen to me for once. Thanks for listening to me drone on like this."

"Look dude, I know it's hard sometimes. McKinley isn't like any other school I've ever been to, but you'll get through it." Sam smiled and tried to lighten the mood slightly, awkwardly squeezing Blaine's shoulder, "But don't let it build up until you can't control it anymore. I still think you should talk to Kurt, but if you can't do that, then I don't mind listening."

"You don't have to pity me Sam," Blaine shrugged and Sam moved his hand from his shoulder,

"I'm not pitying you," Sam stated, "We're teammates now, so we're kind of friends by default, or something like that." He stood up again and picked up his gym bag once more and headed towards the door.

"Thanks Sam," he heard Blaine call, Sam smiled and turned around to face him.

"No problem, and as for the others, I'm sure they'll come around. I hear Rachel is already one of your biggest fans, didn't she suggest you sing 'Last Friday Night' for Sectionals?" Blaine laughed quietly and nodded, "See, they just take time getting used to new people, it's like watching one of those shows on the discovery channel." Blaine laughed again and watched as Sam pulled the door open, shouting a 'Later dude' before walking out in the hallway, leaving Blaine alone once more.

He smiled as he returned the used ice pack to the first cabinet and felt at ease once more, sure it was still going to take some effort, but at least he didn't feel so alone here anymore. Sam seemed to understand him in a way that everyone else had failed to. Maybe he just understood what it was like to be the new kid? Blaine wasn't sure but it just felt so good knowing that he at least had a friend to call his own now. Maybe he wasn't ready to talk to Kurt about how he was really feeling, but having Sam fighting his corner would certainly help him.


	2. Chapter 2

**So I know that I said this was going to be a one-shot, but I've had some thoughts and I've decided to continue it. This is going to focus on Blaine primarily, because I feel that the writers haven't delved into how he really is feeling at McKinley, all we know about him is what we get from Kurt, because as it stands on the show, he's a prop for Kurt's character. In my mind, although he puts on smiles in front of everyone, deep down he's still struggling. Sam is going to play a pretty big part in this as well :) The same goes for the rest of the guys as Blaine eventually gains their friendship. **

**I'm not sure if it's going to romantic!Blam, but I'm not ruling it out, because it's still Blam and that's pretty cool. So yeah, that's all from me for now.**

**Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!**

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><p>Sectionals came and went and New Directions were still on a momentary high, for the most part anyway. They still had their own issues to deal with, but for now they were putting on a brave face and trying to move past things. Blaine still didn't feel properly integrated into the group, he could still feel people stare at him when he made new suggestions, but seeing Sam nodding along in agreement made things slightly more bearable. The end of the semester was approaching quickly and frankly Blaine couldn't have been happier, he just needed a break from everything, he thought that if he had a couple of weeks away from this place, then he'd be able to return with fresh eyes and draw a line under everything. That was the plan anyway.<p>

"Hey!" Blaine turned away from his locker and smiled at Sam who was leaning against the locker next to his.

"Hey," he shrugged, picking up the last of his books.

"So, the guys are going to Artie's tonight, for an epic Halo battle, you interested?" Sam asked,

"Yeah, like they really want me there," Blaine shrugged, he noticed Sam's face falter slightly as he closed his locker, "Thanks for the offer though." He smiled slightly and headed off in the direction of his next class.

He sat down at his designated desk and pulled out his books, not really paying attention to the rest of the class who already seemed to have taken the Christmas mind-set.

"So, are you coming or not?" Blaine rolled his eyes as Sam took the vacant seat next to his.

"Will Finn be there?" Blaine asked,

"I doubt it," Sam shrugged, "Rachel's invited him over tonight, part of the reason why I've made other arrangements." Blaine laughed quietly and nodded. It was no secret that Sam was staying with Rachel while he was at McKinley, and although Sam had been grateful, he didn't really like the idea of playing third wheel to Finn and Rachel and whatever the hell they had planned.

"Look, I don't know Sam," Blaine sighed, "I mean, I'm hardly number one on their list of people to hang out with,"

"Dude, you helped us to win Sectionals, that's a pretty big deal. I've already told you that Finn won't be there. Look you can bring Kurt if you want," Blaine laughed again.

"Video games aren't his thing," he laughed,

"But you like them right?" Sam persisted

"Yeah, they're pretty cool," Blaine shrugged in a non-committed way

"Good, you can give me a ride then," Sam laughed; Blaine shook his head and smiled as their teacher walked into the room.

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><p>"But why are you hanging out with them?" Kurt whined as Blaine drove over to Rachel's house to pick Sam up later that night.<p>

"Because Sam invited me," Blaine shrugged,

"But you don't even like them," Kurt continued causing Blaine to frown.

"I never said that I didn't like them," Blaine tried to argue, "Just that things haven't been as easy as I thought it would be after the transfer." He paused as he tried to think of something to get Kurt understand the position he was in, "Look, you remember when you first transferred to Dalton, how you said things were different?"

"But they were different Blaine," Kurt stated as if it were obvious, "I don't know, I just thought that you'd like to spend the evening with your boyfriend, while he had to the house to himself."

"So you're saying I should bail on Sam, and come and hang out with you?" Blaine asked, rolling his eyes, grateful that Kurt couldn't see him through the phone line.

"No," Kurt sighed, "If this is going to make you happy, then I can't really stop you."

"I love you to Kurt," Blaine smiled as he pulled onto Rachel's driveway, he was grateful that Finn's car wasn't there yet, he wasn't sure if he could deal with any awkward confrontation tonight. He ended the call with Kurt and sighed as he rested his head on the back of his seat. He knew he loved Kurt, but he was tired of being the strong one in their relationship, despite Blaine trying to explain to him how tough things had been for him, Kurt just didn't want to even try and understand. Blaine had been there for him when Kurt had lost out on the election and he'd been the one to try and think of where to take things next. Kurt didn't understand what it was like to walk into a room of people that you were supposed to consider as friends and still be ignored. He didn't have that at Dalton, everyone had been so accepting, he was a friend of Blaine's and that was good enough for them. Unfortunately, Kurt didn't have that same power at McKinley where people couldn't care less. Their relationship had already grown a little awkward since Sebastian had made his appearance known a couple of weeks ago, and despite Blaine convincing Kurt that nothing would happen, Kurt had still been awkward about the whole thing. Blaine knew that he'd never cheat on Kurt, he wasn't that type of person, but something about Sebastian intrigued him, he figured that it was probably because it was the first time in weeks that someone had asked about him, instead of asking about Kurt. He shook his head as he tried to erase the thoughts from his mind, he couldn't deal with any of this tonight, he just wanted to have a night away from the stress and try and fit in with some new friends. He was going to try at least.

He knocked on Rachel's front door, and waited awkwardly for someone to reply. The door flew open and Blaine smiled slightly at Rachel who looked a little surprised to see him.

"Oh Blaine, it's you," she smiled, he nodded and shuffled his feet against the ground.

"Uh yeah, Sam said he needed a ride a Artie's," Blaine explained,

"Oh of course, come in!" Blaine followed her inside, closing the door behind her. He stood awkwardly in the hallway while Rachel called Sam, before she turned her attention back to Blaine.

"I never actually congratulated you on your performance at Sectionals," she smiled, "You were brilliant, though I would have expected nothing less,"

"Uh thanks," he smiled, bringing his hand to the back of his neck.

"No thanks necessary," she shrugged, "You are a wonderful addition to the New Directions Blaine, we're lucky to have you," he smiled gratefully at her. Rachel wasn't the bad person that people often made her out to be, she was generally a sweet girl who always tried to do the right thing by the people she classed as her friends. He'd witnessed more than once that things didn't always turn out the way she planned, but at least she was out there, trying things out, trying to make things better.

"Hey dude, you ready to go?" Sam came bounding down the stairs,

"Uh yeah, sure," Blaine nodded, "See you later Rachel," Rachel smiled at the two of them and walked them to the front door.

"You two have fun," Rachel giggled, waving from her doorstep. Sam practically pushed Blaine outside and towards the car, whilst Blaine waved politely back at Rachel.

The drive to Artie's was pretty easy going which came as a relief to Blaine, the conversation flowed easily between the two of them, and Blaine listened on as Sam talked about what it was really like living with Rachel.

"_Dude, she makes me breakfast every morning before school, my mom stopped doing that years ago,"_ Sam had laughed. When Blaine pulled up outside Artie's driveway, the familiar tightness returned in his stomach, the tightness that he had grown accustomed to before he had transferred to Dalton. Although he had told himself that it wouldn't get that bad for him at McKinley, over the last couple of weeks he'd had a hard time believing it.

"Dude, come on!" Sam grinned as he walked up towards Artie's house. Blaine nodded and hurriedly followed after him, pasting on his familiar happy face.

"They do know I'm coming right?" Blaine asked after Sam had knocked loudly on the door.

"Not exactly," Sam shrugged and Blaine's face turned to nothing short of panic

"Are you kidding me?" Blaine half shrieked

"Dude, chill out!" Sam laughed, placing his hands on Blaine's shoulders, "It's cool." Blaine glared at him as the door opened revealing a middle-aged woman.

"Goodness Sam, it's been a while since we saw you around here," she smiled, literally pulling Sam into the house, Blaine following closely behind them.

"Good to see you to, Mrs A." Sam grinned,

"Are you back in Lima for good now?" she asked,

"I'm going to finish the rest of the school year at least," Sam shrugged, "I'm staying with Rachel Berry and her family," Mrs Abrams smiled and nodded and glanced at Blaine who was stood awkwardly slightly behind Sam, not wanting to impose on their conversation.

"Oh yeah, this is Blaine," Sam grinned, pulling Blaine forward, "He transferred to McKinley from Dalton Academy after I left,"

"Wow Dalton Academy, that's the private school in Westerville isn't it?" Mrs Abrams asked, smiling at Blaine,

"Uh yeah," Blaine nodded, "It's nice to meet you by the way, you have a lovely home,"

"Well thank you," she turned to face Sam again and Blaine felt a wave of relief wash over him, not that the attention had been turned away from him, but that he had felt that little bit more accepted. "The rest of the boys are the basement, you remember the way, don't you?" Sam nodded guided Blaine through the hallway, Blaine glancing back to give her a polite smile.

When they walked downstairs to the basement, Blaine could hear the laughter from the others and he watched as Sam walked straight inside and crashed onto the couch next to Mike. He followed slowly, hovering at the bottom of the steps; he noticed Rory stood not too far away from him. Rory seemed pretty cool, he seemed to know how Blaine was feeling, the isolation he felt after a joining a new school. Only Blaine knew that Rory had it that much worse, he'd left his entire family behind to be here. Smiling awkwardly he walked over to him.

"Hey," he smiled slightly,

"Oh, hi," Rory smiled awkwardly, "I didn't know you were coming,"

"Sam invited me," Blaine shrugged, "How come you're not with the others?"

"They still have trouble understanding my accent, it makes it hard to talk to them, you know?" Blaine nodded and patted Rory's back awkwardly.

"Dude, get over here!" Sam shouted, Blaine glanced across the room, noticing that they were all staring at him. He walked over to join the others, gesturing for Rory to follow him. He sat down on the beanbag in front of the couch in between Puck and Artie.

"So whose ass am I going to have to kick first?" Puck asked loudly, the boys laughed and Puck glanced at Blaine, "How about you Anderson? Do you think you can handle this?" the boys laughed loudly again and Blaine smirked, picking up a spare controller on the floor.

"Bring it on Puckerman."


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm SO sorry that I haven't updated sooner, I've been so busy recently, and I've been writing this in the background. That's pretty much my only excuse :) I've also decided that I'm going to keep this as a Blam friendship, because I love the dynamic between them as friends, and I think it would change if anything developed between them (In this fic anyway - I do ship Blam romance hard!)**

**So after a lot of thought I've decided to turn this into a Blam/Evanberry/Raine story, because Sam and Blaine are pretty awesome, and Rachel is my favourite character in the show, I can't not feature her, and I also ship Raine really hard, and I think Evanberry would be cute. That's all I'm saying for now, other than I still have stuff to work on with the Finn issue in this, it's not over yet, and there will be Klaine drama on the horizon. **

**I doubt if I'll get another update up between now and Christmas, so I'll take this oppurtunity to wish all my lovely readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, because you guys are all awesome, I really appreciate you all taking the time to read this, review, alert, whatever :)**

**DISCLAIMER - This chapter does contain very slight spoilers from the new trailer for the January episodes, but it's hardly anything, so it shouldn't put you off. **

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><p>Blaine couldn't help feeling slightly smug as he practically destroyed Puck – as well as being an active member in the Dalton Fight Club and lead Warbler; Blaine had also pulled a few all nighters with his friends and picked up a few things. He cautiously dropped his controller to the floor and glanced around at the four stunned faces behind him, Puck still staring at the screen in disbelief.<p>

"Dude!" Sam said slowly and quietly, Blaine winced slightly fearing that somehow he'd done something wrong, "That was so awesome!" Sam reached over and patted Blaine's back as the others gave Blaine their own forms of praise.

"You've got some mad skills yo!" Artie laughed, giving Blaine a high five, before picking up Blaine's discarded controller and resetting the game, laughing again at Puck who was still sulking.

"Where did you learn to play like that?" Puck eventually asked, "I never had you down as a gamer,"

"I went to an all boys boarding school, what else are we going to do?" Blaine shrugged, causing Puck to smirk at him. Blaine could feel what little confidence he had gained in the last hour shrinking again. Just like the other boys, Blaine and Puck had never really interacted with each other. Sure Blaine had sung back up for Puck a few weeks ago, but Puck had more or less demanded that he be there and in Blaine's desperation to fit in, he'd obliged. Still, Blaine was aware that Puck was still good friends with Finn. Though from what he had heard from Kurt, Finn had been able to get past his issues with Puck, despite two of his girlfriends cheating on him with Puck. It was things like that, that had confused Blaine to no end. Finn had been able to forgive the seemingly impossible, but Finn still had issues with Blaine, when the only thing he had done was transferring from Dalton apparently. Even so, sitting here with Puck's eyes on him, it made him feel more vulnerable than ever. He was beginning to think that it might have been a better idea to act dumb and let Puck win, but he thought that this would be his chance of acceptance into the group. Now he was having second thoughts.

"You've got to teach me some of that shit!" Puck grinned and a sudden wave of relief washed over Blaine, "I've never seen anyone play like that!" Blaine laughed slightly and felt more at ease, as Mike snatched the controller out of Puck's hand and started firing at the screen against Artie. Blaine leant back against the couch and caught Sam's eye, both boys nodded in understanding as Mrs Abrams walked into the room carrying a tray full of snacks.

"I thought you boys might be hungry," she smiled placing the tray on the counter at the back of the room, suddenly the game was forgotten about as Mike, Puck, Rory and Artie darted to the back of the room. Blaine caught Sam's eye again and smiled contently, knowing that for some reason Sam had his back. The guys came back, arms filled with bags of Dorito's and freshly baked cookies and Puck dropped a selection into Sam's lap, who immediately reached over and handed him a few of the cookies, before he tore into the Dorito's.

"Hold up! You actually eat this shit!" Puck asked, staring at Blaine in disbelief as Blaine held a cookie to his mouth. He frowned at Puck and defiantly bit into his cookie, nodding slowly as he chewed. Sam stared between the two of them, whilst the others sat in relative silence, as they all watched the conversation unfold in front of them.

"You mean cookies and Dorito's?" Blaine asked as he finished the rest of his cookie and reached out for another, because hey, these were actually pretty good. "Why wouldn't I? These are awesome!" He glanced at the others who were nodding in agreement.

"Well yeah, but Hummel wouldn't be seen dead eating any of this junk!" Blaine frowned slightly as Puck referred to Kurt by his surname, but he kept his lips sealed as he continued to listen to Puck, "The last time we all hung out at the Hummel's, he lectured us for over an hour about how we should be watching what put into our bodies or some shit like that." Blaine arched an eyebrow as he glanced over at Mike and Artie who were trying and failing to hide their smiles behind their fists, whilst Rory was sat on the floor at the other end of the couch, munching away quietly.

"Well, Kurt's pretty particular about what he eats," Blaine shrugged, taking extra effort to emphasise Kurt's name. He reached up and snatched the bag of Dorito's from Sam's grasp, "Me? I couldn't really care less, if it tastes good then chances are I'll eat it," Sam smirked slightly and Rory smiled to himself as he continued to eat. Puck sat down in the middle of the couch and took the game controllers out of Mike and Artie's hands and threw one over to Blaine.

"You're alright Anderson," he grinned, "Now you've got to teach me how you did that," the tension was lifted again as the boys resumed talking and chanting loudly, and for the first time since his transfer, Blaine felt like one of the guys.

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><p>When Blaine drove Sam back to Rachel's later that night, Blaine felt so much more relaxed. That sense of anxiety that had been following him around seemed to have disappeared. Blaine was secretly grateful for Sam's determined nature and refusing to take no for an answer.<p>

"That wasn't so bad was it?" Sam laughed as Blaine pulled into Rachel's driveway. Blaine turned the engine off and smirked at Sam, enjoying the feeling of having a guy friend again. Sure Kurt was great, but it was a very different dynamic between a boyfriend and a guy friend.

"No, it wasn't." Blaine shrugged, "It was even better once Puck realised that Kurt's health and beauty regime had nothing to do with his sexuality," Sam laughed loudly and nodded as they both recalled that very awkward conversation. Truth was, Sam had missed this to. Sure he wasn't nearly as isolated at Blaine seemed to be, but he knew what it was like not to fit in. He'd had to grow up quicker than he had ever imagined, losing their house had turned his entire life upside down. Living in the motel had been a real eye opener, obviously his friends hadn't said anything to him, but their expressions had told him everything. The look of pity in their eyes every time their glanced in his direction, told him that he was different to them now. He thought after the move the Kentucky, he would have been able to start again but he had essentially become the breadwinner and slowly but surely it was tearing him apart. He missed his old life, he missed his friends, but most of all he missed being kid and not having to worry about things like he'd been dealing with.

"So really dude, are you glad you decided to come?" Sam pressed; Blaine nodded and raised his eyes to what he assumed what Rachel's bedroom. She was stood at the window watching them, almost as if she'd been waiting for Sam to come home. Both boys had already noticed that Finn's car was nowhere in sight, and the expression on Rachel's face told the boys that things probably hadn't gone as planned.

"Maybe I should go?" Blaine suggested as he waved slightly to Rachel, she lifted her hand slightly and gave him a sad smile. A smile that he'd become accustomed to during his time at McKinley for one reason or another, although it still didn't feel right every time he saw it.

"Dude, you can't just leave!" Sam snapped, "She likes to talk about things, and I wouldn't know what to say to her!"

"She probably just needs a friend," Blaine supplied hopefully.

"It's bound to be relationship crap and I don't have the best track record with that kind of thing," Blaine stared at Sam as he opened the door, before he paused and glanced back at Blaine, "You're supposed to be my boy!" Blaine raised his eyebrow and resisted the urge to grin. He hadn't been referred to as anyone's boy since Dalton. "Dude, just come and talk to her, she likes you. You know she does!" So reluctantly Blaine followed Sam out of the car and towards Rachel's front door. Sam actually had a point, Rachel did seem to be on friendly terms with him, the Finn and Kurt drama aside, and he'd always been quite fond of her. He wasn't entirely sure what the evening held for him, but he went along with it none the less.

When Sam pushed the front door open, Rachel was perched on the stairs, holding her knees tightly against her chest. Sam glanced at Blaine, then nodded his head slightly in Rachel's direction, Blaine shrugged awkwardly and glanced back to Rachel who was sniffing quietly. Sam stood rooted to the spot and Blaine rolled his eyes and walked forward and perched next to Rachel on the stairs, placing his hand awkwardly on her back.

"Sam invited me in," Blaine stated, not entirely sure why, "I hope you don't mind." Rachel nodded slightly and lifted her head sending both Blaine and Sam sad smiles.

"Not at all," she sniffed, dabbing at her eyes gently, "This is your home now to Sam," Sam smiled awkwardly and shuffled his feet against the carpet. Blaine sent him a look, clearly asking for help, so Sam sighed quietly and approached Blaine and Rachel, taking a seat two steps down from them. He turned his body slightly so his back was resting against the railings and spread his legs out across the step and pushed firmly against the wall.

"So uh, we thought that Finn would still be here," Sam mumbled, Blaine lifted his head and glared at Sam, with a look that clearly said 'really?' Sam shrugged slightly, crying girls had never really been his strong point, he just didn't know how to deal with them. Blaine shook his head, fighting strong urge he had to laugh at how uncomfortable Sam was looking.

"We had a fight, he left about an hour ago." Rachel sniffed

"You uh, you want to talk about it?" Blaine asked quietly, apparently that was all Rachel needed to here as she threw her arms around Blaine's neck and started sobbing loudly, muttering something that sounded like 'terrible girlfriend' over and over again. Blaine patted her back gently and glanced over her shoulder again at Sam to see him stifling his laugh. Blaine tried to ignore him and focus on the crying Rachel in his arms. He tried to think of something sensible to say, but his opinion of Finn was slightly clouded due to his treatment of him.

"I'm sure you'll work through it," was what Blaine finally decided to go with.

"You don't understand," Rachel lifted her head from Blaine's shoulder, "I should've supported his decision to join the army, but as always, I _totally_ overreacted, and now he probably hates me," Dramatic as ever, Rachel clung to Blaine again as he desperately tried to comfort her, he'd always hated to see people cry, it had this effect on him, something that he couldn't explain, but it made him determined to try and make things better for them, no matter what the problem was. Sam apparently didn't have the same problem, or if he did he was able to hide it well. He had given up trying to hide his laugh and was now laughing loudly, his body practically as the laugh flowed through his body. Rachel once again detached herself from Blaine and turned her head to face Sam, a stern look on his face.

"What's so funny?" she asked, her eyes still burning into him.

"I'm sorry!" Sam laughed, trying to steady himself, but both he and Sam knew that it was a lost cause, "I just can't imagine Finn in the army! He gets threatened by everyone, hell, he even felt threatened by Blaine and Finn is twice his size!" Sam continued to laugh loudly and Blaine attempted to frown, knowing that he should've been offended by Sam's words, but even he was able to see the funny side. So when Rachel pouted and turned her head back to him, all he could do was shrug and smile slightly. Her pout slowly disappeared as stared between Sam and Blaine, who were still sniggering like children, and slowly she began to laugh along with them.

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><p>"It's just, Finn felt like this was all he had left, you know?" Rachel smiled a while later, twisting her body so that she was directly facing Sam and leaning against Blaine. They'd been sat here a while now, and Rachel knew that it would have been so much easier for them to move into the lounge, or up into her bedroom, but she just felt so comfortable sitting here talking to them both, so content.<p>

"Finn overreacts over a lot of things Rachel, you know that," Sam smiled, and Rachel nodded before glancing at Blaine. He gulped because he didn't have the best opinions on Finn, but he tried anyway, because it was nice to see Rachel smiling again.

"Uh yeah, Sam's right, you guys will totally work it out," Rachel smiled gratefully and shifted her body slightly and leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you Blaine, you're very sweet," she said quietly, "I know Finn exactly made things easy for you since you transferred," Blaine shrugged again, clearly not wanting to discuss the Finn situation, but it did feel pretty good knowing that the rest of the club were at least aware of how Finn was treating him.

A feeling of acceptance swept over him as he drove home later that night, after the spending the evening just being a guy at Artie's house, and just sitting and talking to Sam and Rachel, he had to admit that things were looking up for him after all. So when he got into bed and slipped into an easy sleep, the thought of calling Kurt barely crossed his mind.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm so sorry that I've left this so long without updating, the holidays kind of messed things up for me and everything took a back seat, I'm finally back on track though (I think anyway) so hopefully updates will be more regular than they have been. I'm also writing another mulitchaptered fic 'Doing it Our Way' which is Blainchel focussed, but that's also taking up some of my time. I'm trying to alternate the chapters, so write one for that, then one for this. So we'll see how I get on with that. It might just turn into whatever I feel inspired to write for - which recently has been this, so you guys are in luck :)**

**Oh, and I've also had questions asking why Mike, Artie, Tina etc didn't accept Blaine even though they worked together in WSS, I'm getting to that I promise. The opening chapters in this are basically a build up - it might seem that there isn't much happening, but I'm working on it, I promise. Also, if you have any suggestions for this, then let me know, I take them all on board, and at the moment nothing is really cemented, so things can always change, especially if I really like a suggestion that someone makes.**

**That's all for now, hope you enjoy. **

**P.S. I'm not a Kurt or Finn hater, but I can kind of see them reacting like this in canon. **

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><p>Blaine walked through the hallways of McKinley with an air of confidence the next day, he had no idea that just spending the evening hanging out with the guys would make him feel like this? He opened his locker and started unloading his textbooks from his bag when he felt someone creep up behind him.<p>

"You didn't call me last night," he smiled as he heard the familiar tones of Kurt's voice, he closed his locker and turned to face his boyfriend.

"Sorry, I didn't get back until late and I pretty much crashed," Blaine shrugged, only now remembering that he and Kurt always spoke on the phone before they went to bed, it had become part of their evening routine.

"You _always_ call me," Kurt stated; Blaine bit his lip as Kurt leant against the lockers, he fought the urge not to smile but he could tell that Kurt wasn't in the best of moods, "So, go on then, tell me all about it."

"Oh well, it was alright," Blaine shrugged, as Kurt linked arms with him and they walked in the direction of his first class, seemingly forgetting that Blaine's class was in the opposite direction. "We didn't really do much, played some video games, I kicked Puck's ass by the way. It was fun." Kurt rolled his eyes in disbelief, still not over the fact that Blaine had clearly ditched him for something as meaningless as that.

"Well, if you'd have taken me up on my offer you would have seen what looks like another potential Finchel break-up," Kurt smirked, "Finn came home in such a state last night, mumbling about Rachel, and not supporting his dreams. It's typical of her really, in her world only her dreams are important, and everyone else has to take second place."

"Rachel actually told me what happened last night," Blaine stated, a little annoyed at how Kurt was talking about Rachel. Kurt came to an abrupt halt and Blaine paused as Kurt removed his arm from his and turned to face him directly.

"What were you doing with Rachel last night? I thought you were 'hanging out' with Sam and the others?" Kurt asked, his tone icy and harsh. Blaine frowned as he stared at his boyfriend, hating the expression on his face. It was something he was becoming accustomed to and he didn't like it. He loved Kurt, he just hated how Kurt made him feel sometimes, like he wasn't as important as Kurt was in this relationship, like his feelings didn't matter in regards to Kurt's.

"Sam lives with her," Blaine offered but Kurt shook his head in defiance.

"I know that Blaine, I'm not stupid!" Kurt snapped, "But I'm still curious as to how a guys night turned into hanging out with Rachel Berry?"

"She was upset Kurt!" Blaine shouted in frustration, taking in the accusing expression on Kurt's face. He knew that people were staring at them, but he didn't care, "She's supposed to be your best friend, I didn't think it would be such a big deal!" Blaine had never seen a 'friendship' as complex as theirs before, for best friends they seemed to fall out a lot, and recently he hadn't heard Kurt say a good word about his so called best friend

"Of course it's a big deal Blaine, you lied to me!" Blaine recoiled at Kurt's words

"I'd hardly call it lying!" Blaine scoffed, "When I dropped Sam off last night she was crying, I couldn't just leave her like that." He stated, trying to reason with Kurt, but Kurt just shook his head defiantly.

"Yes, yes you could Blaine. Sam could have comforted her, he is more of her type anyway." He said spitefully, "Finn's my brother Blaine, I thought you would've understood that!" Kurt was shrieking now, his cheeks flushing red as he spoke.

"And Rachel's my friend, that actually means something to me!" Blaine retorted. He couldn't believe that Kurt expected him to put Finn first; despite the way that Finn had been treating him. He knew that Kurt had pretty much acted oblivious to the whole thing, but he didn't realise that he held Finn in such high regard as he did. He stared at Kurt in utter disbelief, unable to form a sentence in fear of regretting it later. He could feel Kurt's eyes burning into him, so without thinking he turned on the spot and headed in the direction of _his_ class.

"Where are you going?" Kurt shouted after him, people stopping to see what was going on between the young couple.

"I can't deal with this right now!" Blaine shouted back, not even bothering to turn and face Kurt as he stormed through the hallway, people actually moving out of his way as he powered through.

For the first time this semester Blaine was actually glad that Mr Schuster was his Spanish teacher, it wasn't that he had a problem with the man; in fact he quite liked him. It was that Blaine was bored in his classes as he had already been through this at Dalton the year previous, so this class wasn't challenging him in any way. But today, he was glad because he knew he'd be able to fume at the back of the room and not have to worry about being forced to catch up with the work, chances were he'd complete it within minutes anyway. He stormed into the classroom and headed towards the empty desk at the back of the room. He'd never fought with Kurt before, not really, not when it really matured. The entire time they'd known each other they'd only fought twice. Once was due to Kurt's close minded attitude towards bisexuality, which Blaine had forgiven him for, the second was only a couple of weeks ago, soon after meeting Sebastian, and once again Blaine had been the one forced to apologise. He let out a frustrated groan as Sam walked into the classroom and sat down beside him.

"Bad morning?" Sam asked, pulling his books from his bag, Blaine groaned in response and placed his head against the desk. Sam held back a laugh, "Well, if it helps I doubt it's as bad as Rachel's." Blaine groaned again, because as much as he liked Rachel, she was the last person he wanted hear about, but once again his curiosity got the better of him, and after last night, he did feel pretty concerned about her. Trying to be a good person was tough.

"What happened?" Blaine finally caved,

"Well," Sam grinned turning to face Blaine directly, "You know she drives us to school every morning?" Blaine nodded and Sam let out a low sigh, "She thought she'd drop by and try and fix things with Finn before school." Blaine closed his eyes and hit his head against the desk again and Sam laughed loudly.

"I know, I tried to stop her, but since she was driving there wasn't much I could do." Sam shrugged, "You can probably guess that it didn't end well, she was in tears afterwards, and I ended up driving the rest of the way, and that car isn't good for my image dude!" Blaine lifted his head from the desk and shook his head at Sam, smiling at him, the anger slowly draining from his body.

"So was that worse than your morning?" Sam asked, Blaine rolled his eyes and leant back in his chair.

"Kurt and I had a fight," he mumbled, Sam nodded and Blaine sighed quietly, "He was annoyed that what should've been a guys night ended up with us comforting Rachel,"

"Dude," Sam murmured as Schuster walked into the room and started to quieten the class, everyone quickly took their seats and Blaine shook his head.

"It's fine." He shrugged, "I can handle it," Sam just nodded, and opened his textbook to the correct page; he could tell that Blaine wasn't fine. He'd been more aware of Blaine and his moods since he had broken down a couple of weeks ago. He also knew that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to force Blaine to talk about things, although he knew that talking about it might help. He'd get it out of him sooner or later, he just hadn't figured out how yet.

As everyone began packing away their belongings at the end of the class, Schuster called Sam to the front of the room. Blaine glanced at Sam, who shrugged, but picked up his bag and headed towards Shuster's desk, students filtered out of the room and Blaine hovered by the door, hoping that his friend was okay.

"What's up?" Sam asked, Schuster sighed and stood up and leant against his desk, as Sam leant against the desk behind him.

"I know you've not been back at McKinley for long Sam, but your grade on the last test was just unacceptable," Schuster sighed, Sam bit his lip, education had never been his strong point. Suffering with dyslexia had always held him back, and although he tried not to let it effect him, he found everyday school life a struggle, "I know it's not always easy for you Sam, but if it's becoming too hard for you, we could always talk about moving you into a special ed. Class?" he suggested. Sam's eyes widened and he shook his head, he'd seen the people in those classes, he wasn't like them, he knew he could do better, it's just sometimes things didn't always make sense at the right time. Words appeared jumbled on the page, his school in Kentucky hadn't really picked up on his dyslexia and since school wasn't his main priority he didn't feel like mentioning it.

"I'll fix it, I swear!" Sam said quickly.

"Sam, it's nothing to be ashamed of," Schuster sighed, leaning forward and placing his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm _not_ taking special ed. Classes, I'll improve the grade!" with that he shrugged of Schuster's hand and stormed out of the classroom, colliding with Blaine as he did so.

"Sam?" Blaine questioned as Sam stormed past him, he didn't get a response, so he just followed him, calling his name constantly. Sam finally stopped at his own locker and slammed his fists into it.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Blaine asked, coming up behind him. Sam groaned and turned and leant against it, closing his eyes.

"I'm flunking Spanish," Sam mumbled, "Schuster wants to move me to special ed. Classes."

"I could tutor you," Blaine offered, "I don't want to brag or anything, but I'm pretty ahead on the curriculum here. Dalton really pushed us."

"I'm dyslexic Blaine," Sam said quietly, Blaine bit his lip and nodded.

"I'll still tutor you," he smiled, and Sam opened his eyes and stared at his friend, "There was a guy at Dalton who suffered with dyslexia, I used to help him with his homework all the time,"

"You'd really do that?" Sam asked, grateful for the offer. Although New Directions knew that he was dyslexic, none of them had really taken into consideration what it meant for him, how tough it was for him sometimes. Blaine was the first person to take all this into consideration and still want to help him.

"Sure, why not." Blaine shrugged, "By the time I'm through with you, you'll be acing that class." Sam laughed and patted Blaine on the back.

"Thanks dude," Sam smiled, "Now come on, we need to get to English early, I refuse to sit at the front with that woman." Blaine laughed as the two started walking side by side through the busy hallway.

"She's a very good English teacher," Blaine tried to reason in between laughs.

"Dude, she _spits_ when she talks,"

* * *

><p>By the time lunch arrived, both boys had managed to push their problems to the back of their minds, although Sam's was slightly easier to forget than Blaine's was. Kurt hadn't called all morning; they <em>never<em> went this long without talking, even when they were at different schools. Blaine was positive that Kurt was mad solely at him, but he sure as hell wasn't going to apologise for being a friend to someone who needed him. They paid for their lunch and found a table towards the back of the cafeteria, trying to steer clear of the usual 'Gleek' table where Finn, Kurt, Mercedes and Shane were already sitting down. Conversation flowed easily between the pair, Blaine trying to ignore the glares that Kurt was sending in his direction, but with Sam distracting him with his latest comic books, it was proving to be pretty easy.

"URGH!" Rachel groaned as she joined them and dropped her tray onto the table, falling into the seat beside Blaine.

"Rough morning?" he asked, dunking one of his fries into his ketchup.

"The worst," Rachel moaned, stabbing her salad with her fork, "Finn's avoiding me, like really avoiding me! He switched seats with Mike in all our classes this morning, and while Mike is lovely it's not the same as sitting as with Finn." Sam shrugged and picked up his burger, while Blaine let out a sympathetic sigh, "Then to make matters worse, Kurt is refusing to talk to me, I don't even know what I've done to upset him, but whatever it is, he's told Mercedes and she's ignoring me as well."

"That might have something to do with me," Blaine mumbled, Rachel's eyes widened and she stared at him waiting for an explanation, "Kurt and I had a fight this morning, and your name came up," Rachel dropped her fork and held her head in her hands.

"So what happened?" she groaned, Blaine winced and glanced at Sam for support, rolling his eyes when he noticed that his friend was more engrossed in his lunch, than actually comforting Rachel.

"It was nothing really." Blaine mumbled, Rachel lifted her head and glared at him, "If you must know, I forgot to call him last night when I got home, he thinks you have something to do with it." Rachel let out a quiet whine and turned into Blaine and buried her head against him. Blaine smiled awkwardly and patted her back, as Sam looked up from his comic book and smirked, before Blaine glanced across the room and noticed Finn and Kurt glaring at him again, defiantly Blaine placed his arm around Rachel and patted her back comfortingly, looking up again to see Finn and Kurt storming out of the cafeteria, leaving Mercedes and Shane staring after them.

"What are we going to do?" Rachel asked, lifting her head slightly, "I can't stand the thought of Kurt or Finn hating either of us." Blaine nodded and bit his lip, preventing him from saying that it was too late for him and Finn, as Finn had already made his feelings pretty clear.

"Come on guys, it'll pass," Sam grinned, closing his comic book and glancing at them both, "By the way Rachel, is it okay if Blaine comes over a few nights a week?"

Rachel was sat up properly now and attempting to finish her lunch, she glanced at Blaine before returning her gaze back to Sam and raising an eyebrow, "I'm kind of flunking Spanish, Blaine said he'll help tutor me." Rachel considered this for a moment and nodded, a grin spreading across her features.

"I think that's a great idea," she beamed, "After all, I did promise your family that we'd take care of you, and that _includes_ your school grades,"

* * *

><p>Glee rehearsal was just as awkward, Sam and Blaine walked in together having just shared another class together. Finn and Kurt took their usual places at the back of the room, with Mercedes sat in front of them. Deciding that it would be better to keep their distance for a while, they took their seats at the front of the room, smiling when moments later Rachel walked inside, glanced up at Kurt and Finn, before sighing and sitting down in between Sam and Blaine.<p>

"Any better?" she whispered,

"Hasn't spoke to me since this morning," Blaine shrugged.

"I'm so sorry Blaine, I feel like this is all my fault," Blaine rolled his eyes as Sam placed his arm around Rachel's shoulders, squeezing her slightly.

"Of course it's not your fault," Sam grinned, "Blaine can't help it if he's your knight in shining armour," Rachel giggled at that and even Blaine couldn't help smiling. The room continued to fill up, and one by one the rest of the guys took their seats surrounding Blaine, Sam and Rachel, and conversation soon turned to the night before, as they spoke in detail about what an epic gamer Blaine actually was.

"You should've seen this guy Tina, he was firing shots I've never even seen before," Mike grinned, firing shots with his hands, Tina laughed and nodded along with her boyfriend.

"He kicked Puck's ass, it was hilarious!" Artie added, nudging Puck who was laughing along with the rest of them.

"Yeah well, the next time I'll be ready," he smirked, "You better bring you're A game next time Anderson," he smirked.

"Oh it's on Puckerman." The guys fell about laughing again when Rachel suddenly shrieked loudly, Sam rubbed his ears for dramatic effect and Blaine laughed at him.

"You should come over to my house and play your games," she announced, when no one responded straight away she rolled her eyes in frustration and tried again, "What I mean is, you all know Sam is living with me, you could use my dad's Oscar room to play, we had to sound proof the room anyway, so you wouldn't have to worry about getting carried away, I know how you boys can get really engrossed in these things,"

"We'll think about Rachel," Sam smiled, nodding slightly to appease Rachel, before Schuster walked into the room and everyone fell quiet as he discussed the plan of action of Regionals. Blaine just smiled contently as Rachel leant against him as she listened in great detail to what Schuster had to say.


	5. Chapter 5

**I know it's been a while since the last update, I've been working on this for ages. I found it really hard to get into Sam's head for some reason - you'll understand when you read the chapter. It's kind of different to the last few chapters, but yeah.**

**I've also had a few messages on tumblr and on here asking whether this is Blam romance or friendship. I know I originally said friendship, but I've had some new ideas, so all I'd say is never say never, and that things will be switching up throughout the story (just to keep you all on your toes of course!)**

**Enjoy x**

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><p>Blaine arrived home later than usual that night, instead of going straight home he'd gone home with Sam and they had made a start on trying to improve Sam's Spanish grade. Well that had been the plan; they'd actually spent the majority of their time watching ESPN. Sam relishing this as when Rachel was home he barely had any chance to kick back and do guy things. Blaine had left shortly after Rachel had arrived home; she'd been to her dance classes straight from school. She was quieter than normal, and just this once Blaine really didn't feel like sticking around to find out what was wrong with her – he wasn't sure if he could take much more drama today. So instead he made his excuses and made his way home. When he pulled up in his driveway however, he was pretty stunned to see Kurt sat in his own car waiting for him. Sighing quietly and preparing himself for what could potentially be another argument, he picked up his bag and walked over to Kurt's door, tapping on the window gently. Kurt had been tapping his fingers against the dashboard to the song that was playing on his radio, he stopped immediately as he heard someone tapping against the window, for a brief moment he thought that it might have Blaine's dad telling him to leave, but when he turned around and noticed Blaine he let out a sigh of relief as he unbuckled his seat belt, switched off the radio and frantically opened the car door.<p>

"You didn't come home after school," Kurt stated quietly, leaning against his car. Blaine nodded, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

"Yeah I know, have you been waiting long?" he paused again as he took in the expression on Kurt's face as he shrugged slightly; it wasn't one that he was used to seeing – on Kurt's face anyway. Blaine had seen him upset before; he'd seen him happy, angry even. But this look – one of remorse – had Blaine feeling slightly uncomfortable. He raised his hand to rub the back of neck, smiling slightly at Kurt, "I uh, I actually went to Sam's place."

"You were at Rachel's house, again?" Kurt asked incredulously,

"Sam's place," Blaine corrected automatically, "But if you must know, Rachel wasn't there, she had a dance class or something tonight,"

"I see," Kurt nodded and the two boys fell into an awkward silence, Blaine glanced up at his house to see the security light at the front of the house brighten up his driveway, he turned his attention back to Kurt who was tightening his grip around himself.

"Look Kurt," Blaine sighed, "I really haven't had the best of days, so if that's all you came for, then I guess we're done here," he shrugged, turning to walk up his driveway.

"No Blaine wait!" Blaine paused again as Kurt chased after him, "I didn't just come here for that," he paused again as he struggled to find the right words, "I came here tonight because - we've never actually gone this long without talking," he smiled slightly and reached out to squeeze Blaine's arm, "I missed talking to you today," Blaine sighed quietly and nodded, fumbling in his pocket for his house keys.

"You'd better come in then," he sighed, "I really don't want to have this conversation out here," Kurt nodded and eagerly followed Blaine towards his front door and inside. Blaine shouted to his parents to let them know that he was home before gesturing for Kurt to follow him upstairs to his bedroom. Blaine pushed his bedroom door open and threw his bag into the corner he knew that he had homework for the next day, but it could wait; he was pretty sure about that. He gestured towards his bed, and Kurt perched awkwardly on the edge as he watched as Blaine took off his sweater and threw it into his laundry basket. It was becoming to clear to Kurt that Blaine was obviously doing his best to avoid having this conversation, and somehow Kurt knew that he had something to do with it. He'd never seen Blaine like this before; their argument that morning had really startled him. Kurt had always been aware that Blaine a temper, you didn't go through what Blaine had without toughening up slightly along the way. But they'd never argued like that before and Blaine had never walked away from him like that, and he'd never ignored him for this long. It had been a wake up call to Kurt and not one that he liked at all.

"Blaine, could you stop, please?" he finally said, and Blaine turned around to face him and his features softened slightly. Kurt smiled meekly at him and gestured at the space next to him on the bed, "Just sit down with me?" Blaine nodded and sat down next to Kurt, he shifted his body slightly so he was facing him at an angle. Kurt was determined however, and turned to face Blaine directly, taking his hands in his.

"I may have overreacted a little this morning," Blaine stared at him quirking his eyebrow slightly, "Fine, so maybe I overrated a lot,"

"I'd day that was pretty accurate," Blaine smiled slightly, "I've never seen you like that before Kurt,"

Kurt nodded and sighed quietly as he squeezed Blaine's hand gently. So Kurt hadn't exactly been in the right frame of mood that morning, but Blaine had never not called him, and then when his excuse had been so lame that he'd simply lost track of time, he'd seen red. It only got worse when Blaine had mentioned Rachel. After spending the night before trying to comfort Finn and assuring him that him joining the army wasn't a terrible idea and that Rachel had completely overreacted, it had really angered him. He'd been waiting for Blaine to call that night so he'd have someone to confide in, obviously he couldn't call Rachel because she was part of the problem, he knew that Mercedes had a date with Shane, but Blaine had never let him down before, he thought that by talking to Blaine than his night wouldn't have been a total let down. But of course Rachel had gotten to him first and Kurt had been appalled that he seemed to have taken Rachel's side over Finn's.

"I'm not used to having to share you," Kurt confided quietly, and Blaine's eyes widened as he recoiled slightly from Kurt.

"Kurt, if this relationship is going to work, then you're going to need to trust me more," he stated firmly, removing his hand from Kurt's grasp, Kurt frowned as he bit down on his lip.

"I do trust you Blaine, it's everyone else. First Sebastian, and now Rachel. I know she's the only girl you've ever questioned your sexuality for! How do you think that makes me feel Blaine?" Blaine rolled his eyes and got to his feet, pacing slightly around his room, Kurt watched him intently as his eyes followed Blaine around the room.

"Kurt you need to stop doing this," Blaine groaned as he continued to pace, "I've already told you that Sebastian means nothing to me, and Rachel is just a friend!" he paused and turned to face Kurt again deciding that it really was now or never, "I don't know if you've noticed, but I seem to be lacking some of those right now."

"That's ridiculous Blaine!" Kurt dismissed, shaking his head and Blaine scoffed, he actually scoffed at Kurt causing him to frown, "You have plenty of friends Blaine, everyone in New Directions at least, then there's the drama department,"

"Okay, so answer me this," Blaine sighed, leaning against his desk and crossing his arms firmly, "Name me one person in New Directions who has actually bothered to get to know me properly?" Kurt opened his mouth to reply and Blaine shook his head defiantly, "And I mean get to know me, and not just your boyfriend," he stressed.

Kurt bit his lip as he contemplated Blaine's words, making a mental note of the members of New Directions, and those who had actually acknowledged Blaine's presence properly, he frowned and glanced at Blaine who was waiting for his answer. There had to be someone, they didn't share any classes, so Blaine had to have bonded with someone since his transfer at the beginning of the semester. He shook his head slightly and forced his eyes to meet Blaine's who was smirking at him.

"It's not easy is it?" Blaine finally asked, breaking the silence, and Kurt continued to frown and got to his feet and walked over to Blaine, standing directly in front of him.

"What about Artie? You two worked together on the musical?" when Blaine shook his head again Kurt sighed and made his next choice, "Puck? You did sing that song with him a few weeks ago," Blaine shook his head again and Kurt let out a groan in frustration, he turned away from Blaine and walked back over to the bed, sitting down again and looking at Blaine with sad eyes.

"So what are you saying Blaine, you regret transferring? I knew you'd end up resenting me for it,"

"What? No!" Blaine half shouted, quickly moving across the room and sitting down beside Kurt and taking his hands inside of his, "I transferred here because I love you, that hasn't changed," Kurt smiled slightly as Blaine squeezed his hands, "It's just not been as easy as I thought it would be, whenever you used to talk about New Directions, you always described them as a group of people who accepted you no matter what,"

"We are," he smiled, nodding his head slightly, "It's not always easy, I mean you've witnessed a fair share of our drama this year, but we all love each other for who we are, it's what makes us special." Blaine let out a bitter laugh and shook his head.

"Then why wouldn't they accept me?"

* * *

><p>Sam sighed as he fell back onto his bed, he'd pretty much given up on his homework for tonight, doing what he could, and deciding that he'd try and work on the rest tomorrow at school. He felt under his pillow and grinned when he pulled out one of his favorite comic books and made himself comfortable as he settled down to read. He was just getting settled when he heard a gentle tap at his door, before it creaked open slightly.<p>

"Hey Sam," Rachel said quietly, Sam closed his comic book and smiled at her, she hadn't really been herself since she had come home from her dance class. He had quickly become used to how loud she could be sometimes, last year had taught him that, but living with her was an entirely different experience. Her dad's and her would usually talk in great detail over dinner and had taken to include him since he had moved in with them, it was something that Sam wasn't used to as it had been so long since he had sat down to a proper family meal with his own family, as either he was at work, or his parents were, and there were only so many things that he could talk to his younger brother and sister about. But the Berry's had immediately accepted him as one of their own, and despite how annoying he had found Rachel during his sophomore year, he was pretty fond of her now. Rachel had barely said a word at dinner that night and it had unnerved him slightly, "Can uh, can I come in?"

"It's still your house Rachel," Sam laughed; Rachel nodded slightly remained stood still in his doorway, her impeccable manners holding her back. "Fine, of course you can come in."

Rachel walked inside and closed the door behind her; she walked over to Sam's desk and sat down at the chair that Sam had been sat in only minutes before. She didn't speak immediately and Sam returned his gaze back to his comic book. When he had first moved in with the Berry's, Rachel had give him all the space that he wanted, she told him that she hadn't wanted to overcrowd him, knowing that people often found her overbearing, and she wanted Sam to feel as comfortable as possible living in her home. But as time had moved on they had become gradually closer, often hanging out at night whilst her dad's were out at some function for work, it was no surprise to Sam that she had decided to join him in his room.

"So you're a guy, right?" she asked suddenly,

"I hope so, otherwise my life has been lie until now," he laughed loudly and Rachel rolled her eyes.

"So would you say it was normal for guy, a guy who loved his girlfriend, to ignore every attempt at an apology that she gave him?" Sam sighed loudly and closed his comic book again, knowing that there was no way that he'd finish reading it tonight especially if Rachel wanted to discuss Finn yet again.

"You really want to talk about this?" he asked, she glanced at him, her eyes big and brown and full of sadness as she nodded her head slightly. He sighed again and up properly, making room on his bed for her, he smiled slightly letting her know that he was okay with talking to her about this and gingerly she say down next to him, "So, what did you this time?"

Rachel sighed quietly again as she fumbled with the hem of her skirt, Sam watched her and smiled slightly as she lifted her eyes to meet his. She smiled shyly back and started tracing her fingers absently over the pattern on Sam's bedding.

"I know you told me to give Finn some space," she trailed off again as Sam shook his head, "I really tried to!" she protested, Sam scoffed slightly, and covered his mouth with his fist as he nodded for her to continue, "I just hate the idea of him not talking to me, Sam. I love him."

Rachel paused and Sam nodded, trying to understand Rachel. But he had never really understood their relationship, the year previous they had spent the majority of it apart, bickering over tiny things. Finn had been a catalyst in ending his own relationship with Quinn, and even though they were kind of friends again now, he had never really gotten over that. Having spent so much time with Rachel recently, he was beginning to wonder what it was that she saw in him.

"I called in on him after my dance class this evening, he couldn't bring himself to look at me, he told me that he needed some time apart for him to really think things through, what does that even mean?" Sam blinked and realized that she was expecting an answer from him, and honestly he didn't have the best track record with relationships. His relationship with Quinn had ended far too quickly last year, his relationship with Santana had been a charade, and whatever he had with Mercedes had ended pretty much before it had the chance to begin.

"Maybe he has a point?" Sam suggested hopefully, regretting it almost immediately as Rachel's eyes met his again and began filling with tears. He shook his head again and began fumbling with his words trying to think of a way to make things sound better, but he'd never been one for words. He'd always left that for someone else. "What I mean is, maybe you should give him some space, but he's bound to come around eventually. Finn has to figure this out for himself, the more you force your apologies onto him, the more likely he is to push them away." He paused as he took in the expression on Rachel's face as she seemed to be hanging on his every word, "You, uh, you know what I mean, yeah?"

Rachel sniffed quietly and wiped her eyes, though Sam thought that it was pointless, he'd seen her crying before, so many times before. Living with her, he'd kind of grown accustomed to it, whereas at first it had made him feel uncomfortable, now he put it down to the charm of Rachel Berry. A person as dramatic as she was she was bound to be more in tune with her emotions than most people he knew were.

"I think so," she said quietly, her voice barely audible, as she continued to wipe away her tears. Sighing quietly, Sam shuffled across his bed and placed his arm around her, pulling her closer to him, he heard her let out a relieved sigh and he patted her back comfortingly.

"This is your senior year too Rachel, don't let this get you down," he pulled away slightly and lifted her chin with his hand, "You've got so much more to focus on, okay?" She nodded again and smiled slightly and Sam released her and leant back on his bed, as Rachel slowly got to her feet and flattened out her skirt again, trying to iron out the creases.

"Thank you, Sam," she headed towards the door and paused as she turned to face him, "I'm really pleased that you're living here,"

"Hey Rachel?" Sam called as she opened the door, "You uh, you want to stay and watch a movie or something?" Rachel smiled and nodded as she closed the door again and shuffled back into Sam's bedroom and joined him on his bed, as he fumbled with his remote and searched for something for them to watch together.

* * *

><p>Kurt sat in a stunned silence as he clasped Blaine's hands, searching his face for anything, anything that would make this whole thing make any sense. He hadn't ever known Blaine take anything so personally before, sure he knew that Santana making a fuss earlier in the semester had caused Blaine to doubt himself, but he thought that he'd got over that. Especially now both teams had merged together again.<p>

"I don't understand what you're saying Blaine?" he finally settled with, and Blaine shook his head and got to his feet, walking towards his window and staring outside.

"Why would you?" he mumbled, "I knew transferring wouldn't be easy, I knew that Dalton had sheltered me more than it probably should've done, but I didn't realize that it would be this difficult."

"I know what you're going through Blaine, I've been there remember?" Kurt sighed, following Blaine and wrapping his arms around his waist, "But I got through it, and so will you." Blaine rolled his eyes and turned around his Kurt's arms, their faces now inches between. It took all of Kurt's will power not to gasp when he saw the sadness in Blaine's eyes.

"I'm trying," Blaine whispered, feeling a lump forming in his throat, aside from Sam he'd never actually spoken aloud of how he'd really been feeling over the last semester. He didn't think he'd cry about it, he'd cried in front of Sam all those weeks ago and vowed that he wouldn't let it get him down anymore, but being here, being this close to Kurt, Kurt who was actually trying to listen, everything just felt so raw again. Kurt nodded and brushed his lips against Blaine's, and for a brief second Blaine gave into him. But then the moment was over and Blaine pushed Kurt away and walked across the room, leaving Kurt staring after him.

"You can't just kiss me and it'll all be okay!" Blaine stated, Kurt nodded dropping his eyes slightly.

"I don't know what you want me to do Blaine," Blaine glanced back at him and was suddenly overcome with a feeling of guilt, and he sighed quietly, closing the gap between them again and taking Kurt's hand inside of his.

"I love you Kurt, and I want to be with you. But I also want some friends that I can call my own, I finally have that now, it's taken a couple of months, but since Sam transferred back I'm finally beginning to feel that I belong at McKinley, and Rachel really isn't that bad." He paused and smiled slightly at Kurt, "After all, she is supposed to be your best friend," Kurt shrugged and smiled slightly.

"That's still work in progress," he mumbled, and Blaine gave his hands another gentle squeeze.

"So, do you think we can get past this whole ordeal, and start again?" Blaine asked hopefully.

"I'd like that," Kurt smiled, Blaine grinned, the sparkle returning to his eyes as he moved in closer to kiss Kurt. He'd briefly thought about mentioning Finn, it had been on the tip of his tongue, but deep down he knew that it would only make matters worse. Whatever happened between them, Finn was still Kurt's brother and they had some sort of loyalty going on. So he decided to leave it for now, hopefully Kurt would be a little more understanding anyway now, and be more aware of what was going on in front of him.

"You still owe Rachel an apology," Blaine grinned as he pulled away from their kiss, Kurt frown briefly before catching Blaine's eye and nodding. An apology wouldn't exactly kill him, and falling out with Blaine and Rachel at the same time was difficult, who did he have to complain to?


End file.
